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Utility Crews Try to Assess Damage Toll

But with so many neighborhoods
damaged or destroyed, people frequently reported having to drive
or pass over downed lines to get
into or out of areas or search for
injured or missing people.

Alford said OG&E estimated the
loss of at least six substations and
multiple circuits due to the storm.
A substation takes electricity from
transmission lines and redistributes it to circuits that takes that
power locally into neighborhoods,
he said.

Several miles from the tornado
path, people in Edmond and Norman also felt momentary effects, as
their lights blinked or flickered.

Alford said as the tornado ripped
power lines from poles or tore
lines from houses, the flashes of
light at the scene often would be
accompanied by the flickering of
lights miles away.

When lines are damaged or even
rub against trees, "the circuit can
shut off for a split second and test
itself and then come back up," he
said. "If the problem is still there,
it will shut down again."

Alford said OG&E crews were especially concerned about finding
areas with downed power lines in
areas with natural gas leaks, because of the potential for fire.

"We try to move as rapidly as we
can to those areas to ensure that
our lines are not going to cause
any problems," he said. "Elsewhere, we have multiple crews in
and along the damage and storm
path doing what we can to restore
power as quickly as we can to
areas."

Southwestern Bell spokeswoman
Sue McCain said many telephone
lines nowadays are buried. But
many people trying to phone into
and out of damaged areas and
other parts of Oklahoma were encountering busy signals or recordings indicating telephone traffic
was very high, and people should
try calling later.

McCain said Bell crews would be
out today to try to assess damage
and start to restore service.